Songs from the Wood - Kent CC1 Day 1

Nearly the double!
By Grockle
September 4 2002

Matt Wood has come of age as a batsman this season and this was the icing on the cake for him and confirmation that he is a first team regular on merit. He fell short of his double hundred by a mere boundary after hitting 29 of them and put us in a commanding lead...can we finish it?

v KENT @ TAUNTON CC1 4 September 2002

DAY ONE

DAY TWO

DAY THREE

DAY FOUR

Woody...you bloody star!!

On the way to Bristol this morning I heard the great news that Richard Johnson was back on the injury bench and Caddick and trescothick had returned to the England camp.  Oh goody I thought...looking forward to this one then!  We need a win and we need 20 points.  That's maximum batting and bowling points.   Enter Matt Wood!

150 up before we lose our first wicket!!  Unheard of in this season!  Somethings never change though...Cox out LBW for 62.  Then you expect the usual batting collapse.  Burnsy obliges by going for 6 and we're 177 for 2.   But Matt Wood is not to be deterred, the rest seems to have given him new form.   He proceeds to put on 98 with Bowler who only adds 31 so the young opener is in full flow by now.  275 for 3 (Bowler caught Jones bowled Masters) becomes 396 for 4 after a 121 run partnership between Parsons and Wood where the all rounder seems to have been the main batsman.  But don't take it away from him

Matthew Wood caught Masters bowled Khan for 196 off 298 with 29 fours - ain't that brilliant?  Doesn't that show that there is something positive to come from this season?  This player is now a first class batsman with considerable runs to his name and is no longer someone to put in because others are unfit.  This was storming.

Parsons didn't last long after Wood went (2 runs in fact) but he had also supported well with 68 (answering some of his critics about his usefulness in Championship games I would have thought) and with Blackwell smacking 30 off 19 balls (6 fours) and Matt Bulbeck in as nightwatchman, we finished on 433 for 5.  One would assume that Blacky will be given free reign tomorrow morning, and if he doesn't do it then it will be down to Turner and Dutch and Francis to throw the bat.  Then stick em in and bowl em out!  We've done the first part of the job, it only remains to see if a supposed weakend attack can do the second by bowling Kent out for less than the follow on target...and then doing it again!  We're at the wire gentlemen, we need the best performance of the year to be in this class of cricket next year.  you are either good enough or you aren't and the next two days will tell the tale I suppose! Best day for well over a month.